Arbovirus Seroprevalence Study in Bangphae District, Ratchaburi Province, Thailand: Comparison between ELISA and a...

Arboviruses, particularly dengue virus (DENV), Zika virus (ZIKV), and Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), pose a growing threat to global public health. For disease burden estimation and disease control, seroprevalence studies are paramount. This study was performed to determine the prevalence of DENV, ZIKV, and CHIKV on healthy individuals aged from 1-55 years old in Bangphae district, Ratchaburi province, Thailand. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) and rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) were performed on archived samples from a dengue serological survey conducted from 2012-2015. All 2012 samples had been previously tested using an anti-DENV immunoglobulin (Ig)G ELISA, and 400 randomly selected samples stratified by age, sex, and residential area were assessed by an in-house anti-ZIKV IgG ELISA and a commercial anti-CHIKV IgG ELISA to determine virus-specific antibody levels. An RDT (Chembio DPP^® ZCD IgM/IgG System) was also used to investigate the presence of antibodies against DENV, ZIKV, or CHIKV. The ELISA results indicate that the seroprevalences of DENV, ZIKV, and CHIKV were 84.3%, 58.0%, and 22.5%, respectively. The youngest age group had the lowest seroprevalence for all three arboviruses, and the seroprevalences for these viruses were progressively higher with increasing participant age. The DPP^® IgG sensitivities, as compared with ELISAs, for DENV, ZIKV, and CHIKV were relatively low, only 43.92%, 25.86%, and 37.78%, respectively. The ELISA results indicate that 16% of the study population was seropositive for all three viruses. DENV had the highest seroprevalence. ZIKV and CHIKV were also circulating in Bangphae district, Ratchaburi province, Thailand. The DPP^® ZCD rapid test is not sensitive enough for use in seroprevalence studies.